Return
by Digital Phoenix
Summary: Welcome back, Ienzo.


A/N: Another story request from Lilac Phoenix, who requested I do a oneshot on Zexion. For those who haven't watched the KHII FM+ cutscenes, do so for this story is based on scenes that may slightly differ from the GBA version. This has a sort of 'what if' plotline, somewhat mirroring what DIZ did to Roxas.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

**Return**

_It is better if he doesn't know._

Ragged gasps escaped him as he tumbled through the portal, collapsing on frozen marble. Eyes darted to find traces of his foes, but there were none. Hand to his chest, he painfully stood to his feet and stumbled blindly towards the wall, one hand supporting his dying form. _Hypocrisy_, he thought. _Why? _He did not advocate betrayal, nor did he deserve this betrayal. He was seen simply as a tool for some.

Then the hiss and hum of another portal shattered the humid silence, and he turned in horror to look upon the redhead and his companion. The Soul Eater glinted in the stark light.

"Why are you doing this?! Axel! This is hypocrisy!"

The man shouted, choking as his wounds condemned him. The redhead paused. Deviant emerald eyes shone through the darkness at the helpless victim. Axel laughed, an arrogant chortle that snapped the deadly tension like a pane of glass. Turning to his companion, Axel smiled.

"You can be as powerful as the real Riku, even though you're just a replica. This will be a good place to start."

Axel finished, motioning to the victim, who had now pressed himself against the cold wall, beads of equally cold perspiration descending in droves from his forehead. His hair was matted against his skin, and he knew now that it was going to be over. Axel's companion approached him deftly, holding the Soul Eater outwards threateningly. The expression on the replica's face was horrifyingly blank.

With a swift hand motion the replica's hand was clamped around his throat, raising the victim into the air. He choked and grabbed at the offending hand, but to no avail. The replica began to glow with dark energy, and Axel stood by and watched, that slight smile still on his lips. The victim kicked his feet, but met only air. There was nothing more. And then, he knew.

He knew.

_Zexion._

Pale lids snapped up abruptly as the schemer awoke in cold sweat. The room was eerily quiet, and the only thing he could hear was the shuffling of dusks' feet in the corridor outside. Kingdom Hearts' sickly light filtered in through the blinds, and tendrils of moonlight crawled fleetingly down the carpet and up the walls, before pooling on the bedspread. Light seeped under the door. Light was everywhere.

_Light._

Zexion sat up, shivering. A gust of freezing wind had just blown into the room, and he strove to compose himself as he pulled the curtains closed, blotting out the light. His muscles ached. Getting off the bed, he shuffled painfully to the door and pulled it open. There was a soft click as the door unlatched, opening to a cold, empty corridor. A dusk flitted past.

Pushing up mussed locks of slate blue, Zexion rubbed his eyes, before blinking repetitively to adjust to the surroundings. Then, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his gloves. Putting them on, he raised his left hand and summoned a portal, hoping to give himself some answers. It had been days since he had last seen Axel, or any of the members of Castle Oblivion. Even the replica was gone. He stepped into the portal.

_He can remember nothing. He will remember nothing._

With a quiet hum, the portal opened and Zexion found himself staring into darkness.

The only sound in the thick silence was the gentle tapping of the schemer's boots on the marble as he made his way through the deserted basement. There was a sickly stench in the air, as if something was rotting. Zexion ignored it, although his abilities to sense told him otherwise. Soon, one of his boots met flesh, hitting something on the ground with a quiet thunk.

Zexion looked down.

It was the replica, long gone. It was almost like the real thing. Zexion wanted to pity it, but he had no heart to do so. All he remembered was that in his dream, the dream he had been having for several nights, this thing had wanted to murder him. It was commanded by Axel. Axel...he was gone. The whole castle was eerily quiet. The mist of confusion had thickened. But he knew who had the answers. Snapping his fingers, the schemer immediately summoned a dusk. It appeared in a flash of darkness.

_You called, my liege?_

Zexion did not move as he felt the dusk speak telepathically to him.

"Where are the others?"

Zexion asked. The dusk swayed back and forth, its zipper-clad head tilting left and right. There was no reply for a period of time, leaving Zexion to become even more impatient than he already was. Finally, the dusk spoke.

_They are gone. Sora took their lives. Axel was the only one who lived. He left._

Gone? Marluxia, Larxene, Lexaeus, Vexen...all gone? Zexion shook his head, unable to remember anything. The only thing he remembered was the meeting he had with Lexaeus. He had sent Lexaeus to find Riku, to win him over...maybe he had not survived the ordeal. Maybe. Zexion dismissed the dusk with a wave of his hand. The dusk bowed slightly, before disappearing.

_It is time the apprentices returned._

A voice boomed across the reaches of a dimly illuminated room. A red-swathed figure sat in a chair, looking at his confused target through a large computer screen. A cloaked figure stood behind him, tossing a bag of munny up and down. The red-swathed man turned on his swivel chair, before standing up and gazing at the array of screens set on the ceiling.

"Roxas has failed us. Now I need my apprentices to continue my research. Two have perished. We will begin with Ienzo."

The man's assistant nodded.

"We saved him from the replica, and Axel. He cannot remember despite his mental prowess."

_His heart is returning._

Zexion awoke again, this time he was back in his room. The curtains were drawn, and the light continued to filter in. He was drenched in sweat. He felt tired and lethargic. But wait...what was this? There was a feathery pulse in his chest. Zexion reached with two fingers and pressed them on his wrist. There it was again. Pulse. This was not happening. Where had the others gone? Why was he the only one left? The room door was open. Stumbling out, he wandered aimlessly down the corridor.

_Close your eyes._

It was just an endless white maze, and Zexion felt lost, although he kept an insouciant calm. The heartbeat was getting louder now, and he could feel unseen eyes watching him. Was this really Castle Oblivion, or just a trick of the mind? He was the illusionist. He would not be confused by any other farce magician. Yet, he was already the magician's little plaything. His eyelids started to droop. He was tired. Zexion stumbled against an adjacent wall, clothed in the darkness. There, he fell, and everything went black.

_Open your eyes._

A blinding white light seeped through tightly-closed eyelids as Zexion sat up for the hundredth time. This time, his surroundings were strange. Before him lay tables with retort stands, flasks filled with bubbling liquid, test tubes, racks and burners. There was a computer set at the corner. A man was there, dressed in a white coat. The schemer looked down. He was also clothed in the white coat. The stranger smiled at him. There was something familiar about this man. The man smiled.

"Welcome back, Ienzo."


End file.
